Learning how to have the mindset for success is crucial when you want a successful and blissful life. If you are like me, you might have many goals you want to achieve. Whatever these goals are, the key is to have a growth mindset rather than a fixed one. But what is the difference and how you get it?

How can you set and have the mindset for success? Do you want to reach your goals more rapidly? In how many years did you plan to achieve your goals?

Many people, as well as I, preach hard work, focus, persistence and more but these are by-products of something else. It is something much more powerful than we can all develop. This extraordinary thing is critical to success, and it is your mindset.

Without the right mindset, you might find yourself sidetracked by your everyday routine. You can also often be distracted by the latest and most fabulous idea you are just having, which rarely pushes you to follow one path until successful.

You may think that you have all the time in the world to achieve your goals. But you have to realize that if you set your mindset for success, you can apply it to other domains as well. In this way, you will reach your goals much faster and find yourself with the capacity to possibly form new and bigger goals.

The Trap of the Mindset

It is always better to fail many times before succeeding as it will help you avoid many of the psychological traps. One of the key traps is to believe that you are smarter than other people, or that you do not have to work hard because you have talent, or that you have nothing to learn.

To have the right mindset to be successful in life, you do not need to have extraordinary intelligence or be gifted with talents.

“The moment you believe that success is determined by an ingrained level of ability, you will brittle in the face of adversity.” – Josh Waitzkin, International Chess champion.

So, as soon as you think success is determined by talent, you become weak when you have to face obstacles.

The Difference between a Fixed and Growth Mindset

So as soon as people see intelligence or abilities as fixed, they believe that many things are impossible for them to achieve because they put limits on themselves and their skills. And that is what is called a fixed mindset.

But other persons see abilities as qualities that can be developed which is, in this case, called a growth mindset. The important part is that those two different frames of mind lead to not the same behaviors and results.

When you have a growth mindset, you know you can change your intelligence, and increase your aptitudes and skills over time. But people with a fixed mindset do not think it is possible. So, the difference between the two groups is the perspective on intellect and brainpower.

The Possibility of a Different Mindset

Many studies have shown similar effects for the mindset about any ability such as problem-solving, playing sports, managing people or anything else you would like. The key to success is not merely effort, focus or resilience, but it is the growth mindset that creates them.

Your mindset is critical. When you directly are trying to build determination or persistence, it is not nearly as effective as if as addressing the mind frame that underlies these traits. How many people think of themselves as not creative people, or sociable, or math oriented, or even athletic?

On the other hand, some people may think that they are naturals. But if you want to fulfill your full potential, you need to start thinking differently. You have to realize that you not chained to your current capabilities and that you can modify your mindset.

A Mindset Can Be Changed

You should know that your brain is very malleable and has plasticity. You can change your ability to think and to perform. In fact, many of the accomplished people of our era were thought by experts to have no more future. People like Charles Darwin, Marcel Proust, and many others but they along with all high achievers such as Mozart to Einstein built their abilities.

But the vital thing here is to realize that you can change your ability and picture yourself where you want to be. When you have a growth mindset, you bring your game to new levels. So, how does a growth frame of mind do that?

Well, there are biological manifestations to mindset. Tests show that with people who have a fixed mindset, the brain becomes most active when they receive information about how they perform. Whereas people with a growth mindset, they have their mind being most active when they receive information about what they could do better next time.

The Choice of a Growth Mindset

In other words, people with a fixed frame of mind worry the most about how they are judged while those with a growth mindset focus the most on learning. There are other consequences about outlook. A fixed mind sees effort as a bad thing, something that only people with low capabilities need while those with a growth approach see effort as what makes them smart and as a way to grow.

And when they hit a setback or failure, people with a fixed mindset tend to conclude that they are incapable, so to protect their ego, they lose interest or withdraw. It is often taken as a lack of motivation, but behind it is a fixed frame of mind.

Whereas, people with a growth frame of mind believe that setbacks are a part of personal development. They find a way around the problem. So it means that you have to challenge yourself. But it also says that you have to praise yourself for being great at something or being smart; so do not also forget to honor others and even children for the same things.

Mindset Affects Everything

Trying hard pushes you to work even harder next time you face a challenge. Do not get into the fixed mindset of thinking that when you win, you are a winner and when you lose, it must make you a loser. The reason being is that your mindset affects your performance.

Remember that you can change your mindset any time you wish. And that is important because many people have a fixed mind frame about something or another. When you teach or have a growth mindset, not only it improves you as an all, but it also narrows down the achievement gap.

Mindset affects all of us. In the workplace, managers and supervisors with a fixed mindset do not accept feedback as much, and they do not mentor people. A wrong or right frame of mind even touches relationships, sports, and health.

Why do schools not teach the growth mindset to children rather than being so critical?

Tips to Have the Mindset for Success

Get a growth mindset.

Develop Success Habits.

Recognize that a growth mindset is beneficial.

Know that your brain changes when you work hard to improve yourself.

Make a small step toward each of your goals each day.

Learn how to develop your abilities as well as teaching others.

Capture all of the information that could help you.

Do a deliberate daily practice to develop your abilities through effective effort.

Listen to audio books or learn a new language on your phone while you are out for a walk rather than music.

Clip articles and inspiring ideas for a vision board.

Learn from your failures by asking yourself what you learned from the experience.

Know your strengths and weaknesses.

Develop core skills that will help you reach and achieve your goals.

After experiencing a setback, do not dwell on it. Instead, make an evaluation, and move on to the next thing.

And so, learn that to have a right mindset will allow you to succeed beyond all your expectations. You have to learn to talk back with a growth mindset voice when you listen and hear your fixed mind frame. Therefore, when you hear it say “You can’t,” just add another word to it which is “Yet.”

Sergei VanBellinghen, Founder & CEO of First-Class Lifestyle, currently a Personal Growth & Success Expert, using self-development techniques to help you succeed and have a better life. Visit my website at sergeivanbellinghen.com